Werewolf's Luck
by rene1014
Summary: The story of Remus Lupin, from being bitten, to his fifth year at Hogwarts. Remus deals with his furry little problem with the help of luck...and his fellow Marauders, of course.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, etc. Anything Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Prologue**

The tireless, young boy sat outside on the grass just as the sun began to sink below the horizon. A stray cat had wandered into the garden, and the boy had been entertained by it for a few moments. The boy's brown hair was blown by a soft, warm breeze, a harbinger of summer.

Just as the he reached out to pet the cat again, it darted out of the garden. The boy looked confused for a moment. Why had the cat run? But then he heard it, too. A low growl came from --- from where? He looked around, but the next moment the boy was pinned down to the ground. His face was buried in the grass; he could hear rasping breath. Something had taken over the boy's body: extreme fear. He meant to yell out, call his father, but suddenly there was a white-hot pain in his shoulder, in his arm, in his leg.

The boy's father came running out of the house. Did he hear the boy scream? Did the boy even scream? He couldn't remember his actions. He felt the pressure leave his body, but it didn't matter. The pain had carried him into blackness.

**Chapter One**

Remus Lupin could remember that night as if it happened only minutes ago, yet he knew it was so far away. It had been nearly eight years since he had been bitten by a werewolf. And yet, despite that setback, he was here, now, halfway through his fifth year at Hogwarts.

Remus remembered the months following the attack. He saw doctor after doctor. His parents had tried to find some way to get rid of his "furry little problem" (as James liked to call it). Whether it was because they were really concerned about how Remus would be treated because of the universal werewolf prejudice, or if they felt the need to redeem themselves since it was their own prejudice toward werewolves that sparked the attack, Remus would never know. All he knew was that he had been lucky thus far, even though the doctors told him nothing could be done.

Luck came in many forms, even death. Had the previous headmaster not died and Professor Dumbledore succeeded him, Remus doubted whether he would have been able to go to school at all. Dumbledore was merciful and accepting with every person and creature. Remus could remember his first meeting with Dumbledore.

It was the summer before his first year at the school. His parents had set up a meeting with the headmaster to discuss Remus' "problem". They were to meet at the Three Broomsticks, in a private room above the bar. The Lupins arrived precisely on time. The bartender led them upstairs and knocked on a door before opening it.

When Remus peered in, he could see a tall man with long reddish-brown hair, wearing midnight blue robes, standing beside a table.

"It's nice to meet you." Dumbledore said, holding out his hand. His father shook it.

They assembled themselves around the table.

"Now, as I am aware, Remus was bitten by a werewolf many years ago and has all signs and symptoms of one. Is that correct?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, when the full moon comes around...well, he's not quite himself." Mrs. Lupin replied.

"Understandable. And you think he might not be able to handle school?"

"No, no. We're quite sure he can _handle_ it. It's just... we were concerned with his welfare and the welfare of the other students during the full moons." Remus' father replied.

"Well, I see no problem with this. Why should a boy not be able to attend school simply because he has an affliction? I think we can work something out." Dumbledore had winked at Remus. He smiled. He couldn't remember ever being that happy. It was hope for him, hope for a normal life.

Dumbledore had a shack built in Hogsmeade. It contained a secret passage leading into the school grounds. No one had to know he was a werewolf. Remus could simply make up an excuse to be out of bed, and Madam Pomfrey would bring him down to the Whomping Willow, through which he would escape to the shack and spend his night. Suddenly being a werewolf seemed so simple. Luck was on his side.

Remus could remember his first day, and his first trip on the Hogwarts Express, where he met a girl with long red hair and bright green eyes. Her name was Lily. A friend. Something Remus never had up until then. Lily Potter was his first friend. She was pretty, generous, and comforting.

He also sat with a young boy whose black hair fell into his eyes. Severus Snape seemed a strange boy to Remus. He was clearly shy, but seemed to overflow with energy and enthusiasm in Lily's presence. He had a strange sense of humor, but was intelligent nonetheless.

_So many things have changed since then_, Remus thought to himself. He was still friends with Lily, but James had been inclined to have her. Consequently, he often made a fool of himself around her, which made Lily avoid conversation in James' presence.

His relationship with Snape had changed. James and Sirius' hated Snape. Remus avoided him simply because he didn't much like Snape either, and valued James and Sirius friendship. Peter hated Snape simply because everyone else did.

"Hey, Moony." Sirius said, sitting down on the red couch next to him, throwing him out of his thoughts.

"Where have you been?" Remus asked.

"Ohh, James and I just slipped a little surprise into Snape's book bag." Sirius said smirking. Remus opened his mouth to ask what the 'surprise' was, but realized that he'd rather not know.

"Hey, Remus, did Sirius tell you?" James asked, sitting down across from the pair in the Gryffindor common room.

"Tell me what?" Lupin looked at Sirius questioningly.

"Obviously not, then." James said. "Let's go upstairs."

The three of them, followed as always by Peter, walked up to their dormitory.

They entered the small circular room. James walked into the middle of it and signaled for everyone to give him space.

"Ready?" he asked. Remus, not knowing what to expect, just nodded.

For a moment, nothing happened. James seemed to be concentrating hard. Suddenly, James disappeared, and instead, a large deer stood in front of him.

"Impressive, huh?" asked Sirius, smiling at the accomplishment.

"When did you figure out how to transfigure?" Remus asked, concern flooding his mind.

"We finally got the hang of it a few days ago." Sirius said.

" 'We', as in, all of you?" Remus asked, astonished.

"Well, Peter hasn't done it yet." James said, now himself again. " He only grows a tail and furry ears. We think he's some sort of gerbil."

"And you?" Remus asked Sirius. Sirius transformed into a large scruffy dog. "Cute."

Remus was amazed that they had worked out how to do this. He was proud of his friends. They did this all for him. He couldn't stop smiling, even though he knew he couldn't allow them to come with him on the full moons. He had told them that long ago, but they eternally disregarded his warnings. He couldn't in good conscience ruin the happiness that exuded from everyone in the room. He was so lucky to have friends like this.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any character, places, ets. Anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter Two**

Remus knew he was lucky. Despite what he was, he had good friends that would always be there for him.

He remembered back into their third year, when Sirius, James, and Peter had figured out he was a werewolf.

They had been sitting in their dormitory. The night before had been a full moon, and Remus was catching up on the homework he had not been around to do. Sirius sat next to him, essentially copying the homework that Remus had spent so much time researching. James was carelessly lounging on his own bed, knowing that he, too, could copy the homework from someone during breakfast the following morning. Peter sat on his bed reading a book on dark creatures.

"Hey, Pete, anything good in that book of yours?" James asked.

"Just some stuff about werewolves. The five signs to identify them and everything." Peter replied.

"Why are you reading that stuff? We don't have to learn that for a while." James asked, completely at a loss for words when anyone decided to learn things early.

"Well, last night was the full moon and it just got me thinking, so I picked this book up at the library." Peter said. James just shrugged.

"Speaking of last night, where were you Remus?" James asked. It was the first time they had brought up Remus's disappearances in over a year. The last one resulted in Sirius and Remus not talking for a week.

"I was... down in the common room. I fell asleep on the couch." Remus replied as casually as possible. It was hard to lie to friends.

"Wow, really?" Sirius asked genuinely curious, as he moved the Remus's hand out of the way so he could copy what the other had written. "Cause we went down there at about one in the morning, and we didn't see anyone."

"What were you doing down there at one in the morning?" Remus asked.

"Looking for you." Sirius replied.

"Really, where were you?" James said, now serious. Remus just stared down at his homework, his heart picking up pace. _They know_, he thought to himself. _And they won't want me around anymore_.

"You are, aren't you?" Sirius asked, putting down his parchment and quill.

"Are what?" Remus asked as innocently as possible.

"A werewolf." Peter chimed in.

There was no denying it anymore. Remus just nodded. He waited anxiously as his friends exchanged glances. He thought he would once again be friendless, once again be back at home with no prospect of returning to school, no hope of having a normal life. His luck had run out.

But his nervousness evaporated when Sirius grinned broadly.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" he asked.

"Well, not too many people are excited to find out their friend is a werewolf." Lupin said, sighing in relief.

"Come on, don't you know us better than that by now?" James asked. Lupin just smiled. He was lucky in his choice of friends. "So... can we use you to threaten Snape?"

"No. No one can know, or else I'll get kicked out of school." Lupin said calmly, even though he was unsure if James was joking or being serious. It was often hard to tell between the two. "Is it that obvious that I'm a werewolf?"

"Nah. Only to us, cause we live with you. And we did some research." Peter said.

"Yeah, I actually went to the library for you." Sirius said.

"I feel honored." Remus replied with a laugh.

"You should. I haven't been in the library since..." Sirius began, but stopped to think. "I don't think I've ever been in the library."

They continued asking various questions about where he would go and what would happen when he transformed. The conversation finally ended when Sirius (half facetiously, half sincerely) said, "Alright, Moony, get back to writing. McGonagall isn't going to be happy when I don't hand in my homework for the third time this week."

That nickname stuck: Moony.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any character, places, ets. Anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter Three**

Remus walked down the corridor slowly. Very slowly. He had no intention of getting to History of Magic early. He might zone out before the class even started.

Suddenly, he felt someone brush against his shoulder. Lily had begun walking in step with him.

"Hi, Remus." she said, looking around, undoubtably for any sight of James, upon which she would flee. Remus returned the greeting. "I was just wondering if you could help me with the Defense Against the Dark Arts homework we got. It's a little confusing."

"Sure." Remus replied. "As long as you help me with that ridiculous Potions essay."

"No problem." Lily said. "It'll be good to get that done tonight."

"I can't do it tonight." Remus muttered, his spirit sinking slightly.

"Why?"

"Cause... I have detention with McGonagall." Remus falsely answered.

"Well, that's fine. We can work on the homework tomorrow night." Lily smiled, but the smile was quickly whipped off her face. James had appeared between them.

"Hey, Evans." James said. "See Snivellus lately? We played a little trick on him."

"You slipped a Bundimun into his book bag. Severus had to redo all of his homework because the slime from it rotted through his book bag. That was uncalled for." Lily replied.

"Course it wasn't. We have perfectly sufficient reasons to hate Snape." James snorted. "Even you can't put up with his stupidity anymore."

Lily pushed past them and began to walk quickly. She hurried so fast into the classroom, that Professor Binns might have had a heart attack and died again, if it was possible. He probably never saw anyone walk vigorously into his classroom before.

"Do you have to be that mean to Snape?" Remus asked, pitying Snape. He had never done anything to Remus; therefore, he didn't have much against him. Siruis went into a coughing fit, and James' shocked expression said it all. "Forget I asked. I just don't think Lily will ever fancy you if you keep it up, Prongs."

"She'll come around." James claimed confidently.

* * *

Remus would have been doing homework with Lily had it not been a full moon. He was sitting in his dormitory, watching the sun in the sky. It began to sink lower, and he knew it was time to go.

"Hey, Moony, we're coming this time, remember?" Sirius said.

"It's dangerous. You should just forget about it." Remus replied. He would never forgive himself if his friends got hurt because of him.

"We're coming." James said. "Even Peter's managed to transfigure. We didn't do this for nothing."

"Besides, werewolves don't go after animals, right?" Peter asked nervously.

"I'm not myself when I'm a werewolf." Remus stated darkly, trying to get them to stay safe.

"Ohh, come on. It'll be fun. We can party it up in the Shrieking Shack." Sirius said nonchalantly.

* * *

As always, Remus walked down to the Whomping Willow with Madam Pomfrey. He was silent, listening for signs of his friends behind him. They would have to get in quickly when Pomfrey immobilized the Whomping Willow, or else they'd have to find a way to do it themselves.

Remus watched as Madam Pomfrey pulled out her wand. She did a spell and Remus saw one of the tree's roots lift up a moment, as if it was being pulled out of the ground. The tree stopped moving, and he walked toward its base. He crawled down the dirty pathway and eventually came to stand in the Shrieking Shack.

He walked toward the staircase and sat down on the bottom step. Would his friends make it through? Did he honestly hope that they didn't? Why were they so stubborn?

But then Remus heard voices. Sirius' head popped out of the entrance hole in the floor of the shack. Remus stood up immediately. Sirius pulled himself out of the hole, followed by a nebbish-looking Peter, then James.

"Nice place you got here." James said, looking around at the dirty yellow walls. There were numerous scratch marks on some of the wood where Lupin had unconsciously tried to break out of the shack.

"Yeah. Could do with some better decorating though." Sirius added, smiling.

They walked up the stairs to the second floor room. There was nothing but a torn up couch and an old table.

"So" Sirius began, tossing himself onto the battered couch "how do we know when the moon rises? There's no windows in here."

"I'll know." Remus replied, worried for his friends' safety. "I'll feel it."

"Want me to go on a firewhiskey run into Hogsmeade?" James asked.

"That's exactly what we need." Peter said sarcastically. "A drunken werewolf."

Remus laughed. He wondered whether it the transformation would be less painful if he was drunk. He might just have to try it sometime.

"The moon will be rising soon anyway. I don't have time to get drunk." he said.

"We'll plan better next time." James said, winking.

"Well I for one don't want to be stuck in a small room with a drunk stag. You might end up stepping on Peter or something and then we'd really have to explain ourselves." Sirius voiced.

"We can blame it on Snape like we always do." James resolved.

"Point taken."

Remus suddenly felt the dropping sensation in his stomach. His vision faded for a moment, then returned even sharper than his own. He felt pain in his back and knees. He leaned on the wall for support, hoping his legs wouldn't give. Sirius ran over to him.

"Remus, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Tr-transfigure." was all he could muster in reply.

Remus was breathing heavily. He was in pain, but it was only beginning. It commenced, and his feet felt as if a full bookcase had dropped right on them and flattened them out. His legs felt as if they were being pulled and stretched to the point where he doubted one bone even touched the other. He yelled out in pain and fell to the floor.

He caught a glance at his friends. He saw something he never saw before: Fear streaked James' face. Sirius looked shocked. Peter...well Peter was no where to be seen; he either intelligently transfigured or ran and hid. Something told Remus it was the latter. Suddenly, James pulled Sirius away.

Meanwhile, Remus yelled again in pain. He held his head in his hands, trying to simply endure the pain, rather then scream with it. His back felt shattered. He pulled his hands away from his eyes, but realized that claws had already grown. Blood streaked down his face. Now down his fur.

He felt as if he had been knocked out. Visions seemed to swim in and out of his head for a very quick moment. Suddenly, he was alarmed. He had Sirius pinned up against the wall.

Remus tried to take control of his body. His mind reeled. It looked for blood, meat, flesh. Here it was. He had dinner right here.

He had Sirius right here. He could barely stop himself.

He felt his teeth against the boy's flesh.

"Remus!" Sirius shouted frantically. "Stop, Remus, it's me! It's Sirius!"

Remus pulled back. He could feel the presence of _friends_. He couldn't do this to people he loved. Why had Sirius not transfigured?

How stupid Remus had been! Why had he let them come along? He walked to the other side of the room, past a deer, and sat down in a corner of the shack. How could he do that to friends that he was so lucky to have?

But he was hungry. He craved flesh. He _needed_ it. But where could he find it? There was no one here. Hogsmeade. He ran over to the opposite wall and began an attempt to tear it apart. It was hopeless. He sniffed the air, but all he could smell was his own blood that dripped down his face, and a few animals. Animals were so satisfier. He needed human flesh.

Suddenly, a large black dog approached him. It was fetid and drooling. A big paw rested itself on the werewolf's foot. The werewolf bent down to stare the dog in the face. He was a friend. The werewolf knew it. He was lucky to have friends who would stand by him through fur and ferocity.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any character, places, ets. Anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter Four**

The rest of the night passed with Remus phasing in and out of consciousness of his actions. Finally, as morning came, the werewolf felt pains again. His legs shrunk. His feet felt as if they were being broken and bound. His back felt as if it again shattered. He let out a howl of pain as he became human again.

Remus got up from the floor and looked around. James had jumped up, turning immediately into himself. A rat scurried around on the floor checking his surroundings to make sure it was safe to again join the human race. A large black dog slept on the couch. It was always impossible to wake Sirius up.

"You're all okay?" he asked. James had a small cut on his face and a slightly bigger one on his arm. Peter remained untouched.

"We're fine." James said, already attempting to heal the cut on his face.

"That won't work. It's a wound from a dark creature. They heal in time, even faster when you put some potions on them, but not with a simple spell." Remus stated.

"Great." said James. "Sirius isn't going to like to hear that. You won't be too happy with that information either when you get a look in the mirror, Moony."

"I won't like to hear what?" Sirius asked, transforming immediately, when he saw Peter standing above him, prodding him with a wand.

Remus saw him sit up. He had a decent sized cut across his cheek.

"You can't heal those cuts right away." Remus said. "Sorry if I hurt you."

Sirius lifted up his shirt to reveal three long cuts across his stomach.

"Wow. That looked a lot worse with fur." Sirius muttered to himself.

"I'm so sorry." Remus said, putting his hand to his head. How could he have put his friends in this sort of danger? He was so lucky to have them there, to always support him, yet he risked their lives pointlessly.

"Don't apologize. We would have came whether you liked it or not." James said.

"You seemed to know who we were sometimes though." Sirius averted the conversation.

"I did." Remus replied. "That's never happened before. I could sometimes remember that I was actually a human being. I had control when I realized I had you guys around."

"Which means we have to come again! Maybe we can help you." James said excitedly.

"We're coming again?" Peter asked feebly.

"No. I'm not risking your lives again."

"Well, we'll risk our lives on our own accord. Nothing's on you. It's our choice." Sirius said.

"You were barely here last night, Peter. It took us an hour to find you after you ran downstairs." James looked disgusted.

"I thought Lupin ate you." Sirius said casually.

"Well, I got scared." Peter said. "Sorry."

"I can't blame you." said Remus. "And you won't have to do it again."

"But it helped." Sirius said, sounding slightly like a child. Running around with a werewolf was not child's play.

"Accept that we're coming because we are, regardless. We've been through one night here. We can do it again." James ensured.

"You were just as scared as Peter was last night." Remus said, his stance weakening. James and Sirius were too hard-headed to fight with.

"Yeah, we were. We didn't know what you'd be like, and it scared us to see you in pain and out of control, but now we know what happens." Sirius said.

"Shouldn't you be meeting Madam Pomfrey about now?" Peter interrupted, looking at his watch.

Remus motioned for everyone to go downstairs. As he walked toward the door, he passed the couch, where a big wet spot had formed.

"What's that from?" he asked.

"Sirius kept drooling." James said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, that's how dogs sweat. I couldn't help it." Sirius uttered, embarrassed with himself.

* * *

Classes felt as if they lasted forever, and the four friends' spirits only lifted after they went up to their dormitory and slept off a couple of hours. Remus had gotten no sleep the previous night. The other three had gotten a few hours, but nothing to sustain them through a day of classes and then some.

They slept until dinner, wherein they stumbled down the staircase and into the Great Hall. Sirius nearly missed the bench when sitting down and Peter fell asleep at the table.

To make things worse, Remus had forgotten that he promised to help Lily with homework. He had to do his homework anyway, but words did not come easy when he was this tired. He hoped he wouldn't sound like a complete moron in front of her. She was so intelligent and thoughtful. He always felt as if he might embarrass himself at any given moment when he was with her.

* * *

After dinner, Remus watched his comrades fall asleep again as he took his book bag and walked back down into the common room, which was fairly quiet. Lily sat at a small table in the corner of the room, away from everyone else. Her red hair fell in a sheet that hid her face. Remus walked over to the table and sat down.

"Hi." she said, but upon getting a full look at his face and the three long cuts that streaked across it, she gasped. "What happened?"

"Ohh, nothing. Filch took me down to the Forbidden Forest for detention last night. Something scratched my face." Remus replied nonchalantly. He hated to lie to Lily. She was so sweet and honest with him.

"Well, I can heal that for you." she claimed, quickly taking her wand. She tried, but nothing happened. "I guess my skills aren't that good."

"No, I'm sure you're fine. Madam Pomfrey couldn't get rid of them either, but she said they'll go away eventually." He hoped she wouldn't figure him out. She gave him a concerned-parent look, but continued on. He was lucky to have someone that cared so much about him.

"You look very stressed and tired. Are you sure everything's fine?" Lily asked.

"Yes. I'm fine." Remus said with a smile. Lily, on the other hand, was so generous toward everyone else that she always put herself last and let herself go. The smile relaxed Lily and allowed her to drop the situation.

"Well, I need help with the Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. These short answer questions are puzzling." she said.

"Why are you asking me for help anyway? Snape is far more intelligent than I." Remus admitted. He remembered James saying that Lily couldn't stand Snape anymore, but he didn't always believed what James said about Snape.

"For once in his life, Potter was right. We had a row; we haven't been talking."

"Ohh, sorry to hear that." Remus replied. He really was sorry to hear that. He hated when friends fought with each other and then drifted away. The most lamentable event in the world is when friends become estranged from one another and their past camaraderie is disregarded. He hoped he'd be lucky enough to never experience that division.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any character, places, ets. Anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter Five**

"You know what would be great?" James asked. The four friends were sitting in their dormitory. Lupin and Peter were in fierce study as O.W.L.s came closer. James lounged casually, as always. Shockingly enough, Sirius was sprawled across the floor doing his homework.

"What?" Sirius replied immediately, anything to take a break.

"If we had a map of the school. If we could map every single hallway, it would be easier to get around the teachers when we're trying to get to the Shrieking Shack." James replied. "I don't think even Filch knows some of the passageways we found."

"That would be cool just to have around. All the detentions we could dodge..." Remus sighed happily.

"How would a map help?" Peter asked.

"We could just take another hallway nearby, and still find a way to our destination." James replied.

Suddenly Sirius sat up so fast that he sent his ink bottle flying. It was quite alarming.

"You know what would be awesome!?" Sirius nearly shouted with excitement. "If the map could tell us more than the hallways and inanimate objects!"

"What are you talking about?" Remus questioned, but he seemed to have missed something, for James was now getting excited as well.

"He means people." James hummed. "What if the map could show us where people were in Hogwarts. Then we'd really avoid detention."

"I've never heard of a map like that." Remus said thoughtfully. "But I'm sure we could be the first to make one."

"Ohh no." Sirius sighed, excitement draining out of him.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Does this mean we're going to the library?"

James and Remus exchanged grins.

* * *

The following weeks had passed quickly. The time that wasn't spent in classes was spent studying for O.W.L.s, and the time that wasn't spent studying for O.W.L.s was spent making the map. Remus had managed to find a passageway out of the castle; Sirius had managed three. Making this map was a tedious job. They generally made Peter lay out most of the castle, using both charms and the good old-fashioned ink and quill. Though Peter whined, they told him truthfully that he had better handwriting; therefore, he should do it. Their other motive was to avoid the extra work.

O.W.L.s were also tedious. Frankly, they were boring to study for. Remus was not too confident in himself, and felt the need to restudy virtually everything he had ever learned, except of course, the information on werewolves.

Remus felt lucky though. All of this was relieved by the fact that his friends had the same stress, and they made it much more comic than going through it alone.

On a beautiful Sunday evening in May, the boys sat in the Library, all studying relentlessly for their exams, except for James, who was poking and prodding his wand at the map, muttering charms under his breath.

All was well, until Snape walked into the Library. James' attention was automatically diverted. As Snape walked past the table, James whispered, "locomotor mortis" under his breath, which caused Snape's legs to lock together, and his books to pour out of his hands onto the floor.

There was a bit of an uproar, and Madam Pince had come over to see what the problem was. Snape was shouting at James, Sirius was shouting at Snape, and Madam Pince was shouting at anyone who came into her sight. Remus however, wasn't paying attention to any of it, for Snape's Potions book had fallen open onto the floor. The book was scribbled all over. Spells and notes were squeezed into the margins. Remus picked up the book, still ignoring what was going on, and began flipping through the pages, amazed that Snape had made all these spells himself. Intrigued by the book, Remus was only thrown back into reality when Snape snatched it out of his hands. Madam Pince yelled at all five of them until they ran out of the Library, for fear that she might come to her senses and issue them multiple detentions

Once in the hallway, Snape made a quick escape, only catching Remus' eye for a quick moment. The boys decided to continue their studies in their dormitory, as that was the second refuge of silence.

For a while, they resumed their studies. Yet Remus had seen some interesting spells, memorized them as quickly as possible before Snape had snatched the book out of his hands. He was distracted, and couldn't study anymore. He wondered what they did. Suddenly, he decided to try one. He pointed his wand at Sirius and whispered, "Levicorpus."

Sirius was thrown upside down and was dangling in the air by his foot.

"What the hell--?" he began, but Remus cut him off.

"Sorry!" Moony shouted, letting him down with a bit of a thump.

"What was that?" James asked, amused.

"I don't know." Remus replied. "I read it out of Snape's potion book. I think he made it up himself."

"What was the spell?"

"Levicorpus."

Just as Sirius was dusting himself off, he shot back into the air.

"Would you put me down, damnit!" Sirius shouted.

"Fine." James said, letting him fall.

"Jeez, do youhave to experiment on _me_?" Sirius said, brushing himself off once again. "I mean, really, Peter is the rat here." Peter's eyes widened.

"Sorry, Padfoot. Just a little fun." James apologized. "What else did you see in that book of his?"

Remus wrote down the other spells he had seen, or clips of them. He hadn't had time to memorize everything, but he was definitely lucky to have a good memory. The remainder of the night was spent working out what the spells did, and how they were made. By midnight, James had already come up with a few new spells of his own.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any character, places, ets. Anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter Six**

Chaos had ensued over the next week or so for three reasons. Firstly, O.W.L.s had started. Secondly, James and Snape were now at each other's throats, throwing unknown spells at each other at every chance they had. Thirdly, the levicorpus spell had become very popular, very quickly; consequently, on any given moment, one or two people would go flying into the air on their way to class, causing all of their school supplies to spill onto the floor, which resulted in traffic in the corridors.

Studying had become a monotonous task, yet Remus still found himself engaged to do so. The boys sat in their dormitory, as usual, and tried to cram as much information as possible into their brains.

Yet the room seemed unfit to study. James, who wasn't worried about his Defense Against the Dark Arts exam at all, and found it more worthwhile to try to finish the map, and was mumbling spells. Sirius had fallen asleep on his textbook a while ago and was snoring. Peter was talking to himself and studying aloud, as if it would have helped him any more than studying silently.

"YES!" James shouted loudly, causing Sirius to be jolted out of his sleep and Peter to nearly fall off his bed with surprise.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, grumpy and groggy.

"I did it! Look!"

They all crowded around him. Remus looked down at the parchment in James' hands to find four small dots huddled together, each named accordingly.

"Is everyone on the map?" Sirius asked, now excited.

They flipped through the other parts of the map. They saw Snape's dot in the library. Lily was in the girl's bathroom on the second floor that was said to be haunted. Filch was following Peeves down a corridor in vain. He was way too slow for the poltergeist.

"How did you do that?" Remus asked, flabbergasted at the accomplishment.

"I guess I just got lucky." James replied. "I mumbled some combination of Snape's spells and my own. I think when I added the word 'vestigium' they all appeared."

"I think we should try it out." Sirius suggested excitedly.

* * *

Well into the night and still studying, the boys decided to take a break and get a late-night-early-morning snack.

James and Sirius stuffed several dungbombs and a couple of ever bashing boomerangs into a backpack, their payment to Filch, who had recently given them two nights of detention. James picked up his invisibility cloak, but Sirius stopped him.

"We won't need that." Sirius reminded him, pointing to the map.

"Right." James said. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The map opened before them. It was a useful charm that Remus had put on it, to protect the map from unwanted eyes.

The boys crept through the corridors, James and Sirius pointing out spots to drop dungbombs on the way back up. They made it down to the kitchens with nearly no problem, except for having to take an alternate route to avoid McGonagall, who was monitoring the corridors, but they had seen her in advance anyway.

The house elves welcomed them when they entered, stuffing their bag and pockets with as much food as possible. Seeming to have an extra sense, they handed Peter a block of cheese and James a very leafy-looking pastry.

They made their way back up to the common room, James and Sirius dropped the dumgbombs around, save two. They released the ever bashing boomerangs somewhere near the Slytherin dormitory, wherein they had to dodge a teacher, who noticed the frisbees immediately. They found Filch only a corridor away from the Fat Lady's portrait, wherein Sirius and James practically hand-delivered the last two dungbombs.

Upon reaching their dormitory again, Sirius burst out with laughter.

"The look on Filch's face was priceless. He didn't know what hit him, literally."

"Well, he figured it out by the smell, I suppose." James said. "Anyway, I think it was a great test run."

"That map is probably the best thing we've ever thought of making." Sirius added.

"I just can't believe we actually made it." Peter said, astonished.

"Can't believe it? After all the great things we've accomplished?" James grinned.

"This isn't the end of it." Remus said. "We have a lot of other great things to accomplish yet."

James and Sirius exchanged glances. Remus could tell: they were already planning more mischief.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any character, places, ets. Anything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter Seven**

The following day started out smoothly. The Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was not half as hard as Remus had expected. They were all in good moods, except for Peter, who despite being friends with Remus, _still _managed to get the werewolf questions wrong.

Remus was elated at how things were going until James and Sirius decided to cause a scene with Snape after the exam. They used his own Levicorpus spell against him. Lily had come to his aid, but clearly they weren't on the best terms because he called her a mudblood, which made James want to kill him even more. Remus had to stop himself from getting up and hexing Snape a good few times for that as well. Yet, Remus felt bad for Snape, felt he should be doing something. He was a prefect after all, but he doubted he could stop his friends. In fact, he knew he couldn't. Their will was stronger than his. The spectacle had only stopped when McGonagall came out of the castle shouting, and James and Sirius skipped back to where Remus and Peter were under the tree.

"That was well worth a Saturday detention." Sirius claimed as they sat down, but James had a more concerned look on his face.

"Think I'll ever get Evans to go out with me?" James asked, searching Remus' face for an answer. Remus only shrugged. He had a lot of growing up to do if he wanted to go out with Lily, but Remus didn't want to shoot him down just yet. Maybe James was growing up though, for this was the first time he had actually questioned whether his ability to charm Lily. It was if he was a small child that was finally learning that he doesn't get everything he demands.

"Yes, I'm sure someday she'll realize your wit and charm and fall hopelessly in love with you." Sirius retorted, laughing at the idea.

"Shut up." James sighed. "Ohh, well. At least Snivellus won't be around her anymore. Seems as if they've really had it out."

"Maybe luck is on your side." Peter suggested.

"This has definitely been a lucky year." Sirius stated. "Finally figuring out how to become animagi, making the amazing Marauder's Map, _and_ I've only had five Saturday detentions. Six including this last one."

_It has been a lucky year_, Remus thought to himself. But he already knew it would be a lucky year. His luck had started the day that he met Dumbledore in the Three Broomsticks.

"Hey, Moony, would you put that damn Transfiguration book down. You'll get an Outstanding anyway." James resolved.

"Yeah, no more studying for the rest of your life." Sirius added.

Remus knew luck had stuck with him since then. It had made its presence known through friends, places, and goals.

"Exploding Snap?" James asked, pulling out a deck of cards.

For now, Remus was just taking advantage of luck. He knew that his luck would run out eventually, probably when he left school. All Remus knew for now, was that he was in the luckiest place in the world: sitting under the big tree down by the beautiful lake with the marauders by his side.


End file.
